A man who received a hero’s welcome in Lebanon after spending 27 years in Syrian prisons is actually a “Syrian national,” media reports said on Tuesday.

“The Syrian embassy sent a cable to the Lebanese foreign ministry, noting that Yaacoub Chamoun is a Syrian national and that he was arrested for collaborating with Israel,” al-Manar television reported.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday noted that it can help Lebanon control its border with Syria should the Lebanese government make such a request.

Commenting on media reports about a possible deployment of UNIFIL peacekeepers on the border with Syria, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said UNIFIL’s deployment and missions were specified by the U.N. Security Council and approved by Lebanon’s government, noting that UNIFIL’s area of operations was defined by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali on Tuesday said the memorandum submitted by the March 14 forces to President Michel Suleiman is “unachievable” and “unrealistic,” calling on the Lebanese government to respond to this “media uproar.”

“Syria has always made it clear that the treaties signed between the two countries serve Lebanon’s interest before Syria’s,” Ali said in an interview on al-Manar television.

A woman was killed and two people were wounded on Tuesday in the explosion of a landmine left over from the several wars with Israel in the southern town of Marwahin, state-run National News Agency reported.

The body of the 35-year-old woman, Nada Ghannam, was taken to Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil, NNA said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun demanded on Tuesday a detailed account of the developments along the Lebanese-Syrian border “because developments have started to take a dangerous turn.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “An official government report over the border situation should be made for us to take a position from Syria.”

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has granted nine additional persons the status of victims participating in the Ayyash et al proceedings, the STL said Tuesday in a statement.

The nine victims will form part of the existing group of 58 victims whose status as victims participating in the proceedings was recognized by Fransen in May 2012.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that the government is committed to the implementation of the smoking ban that was recently approved by parliament.

He said after meeting with a delegation from the restaurant owners syndicate: “Those protesting the ban should have presented alternatives before the law was approved at parliament.”

The Syndicate Coordination Committee threatened to stage a nationwide protest on Thursday if the Cabinet failed to approve the new wages increase for the public sector employees.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly shrugged off on Tuesday a request by the March 14 opposition to deploy UNIFIL troops on Lebanon’s border with Syria.

“We were concerned by what is happening at the border. But our focus, my focus is very much on what we can do to help the Lebanese Armed Forces,” Plumbly said following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.

The Army Command said on Tuesday that it intensified its investigations and reinforced its security measures as it was able to expose a large number of gangs throughout Lebanese territories.

“We are still pursuing the remaining gangs in order to detain their members and refer them to the competent judiciary,” the army said in a communiqué.